Harry and Ginny's Completely Platonic Journey Through Time
by hickorydaisy
Summary: Harry and Ginny have been the victims of love potions used by Molly Weasley. When they discover the betrayal, they are distraught, and, in his anger, Harry accidentally smashes a new time turner prototype on the ground, covering himself, Ginny, and loyal house elf Kreacher in its sand. The three of them are hurled back in time, and now they have to do everything all over again!
1. Chapter 1

It had been two days. Just two days since Harry and Ginny had learned that they were never meant to be together. Two days since they had discovered that neither their children nor Teddy Lupin should even exist. It wasn't anywhere near long enough to come to terms with it, and now Harry had to bring home an experimental new time-turner, because the world just loved giving him things to stress about.

"Ginny!" Harry called to the wife he loved like a sister, "I'm home!"

"Harry!" Ginny rushed to meet him and pull him into a hug, "How was work? Did you find out anything that can help us?"

"No," Harry replied, feeling quite angry now. "It's been more than five years since our marriage, therefore we cannot do anything beyond get a divorce!" His fists began to clench, and he forgot that he was holding the time-turner. "We can't even really stir up a fuss, as then people will say that because we were together so long, love potions really work! It's completely wrong!" As he finished talking, he threw the time-turner down at the floor, forgetting what it was.

When it hit the floor, it burst, covering both Harry and Ginny in the time-sand it contained. The two of them looked at each-other in shock and barely had time to recognize how bad this was before they both vanished into thin air. What neither of them had noticed was that Kreacher had also been caught in the sand.

Harry knew something was wrong immediately. How could he not? The first thing he heard was his Aunt Petunia yelling at him to get up, and only a few moments ago, he hadn't even been near her!

Then, it registered in his mind. The time-turner. Was he eleven again?

"I'm up!" he called to his Aunt, sitting up as he did so. He looked around and saw his old cupboard-under-the-stairs. So, he was ten, almost eleven, then. He bet it was Dudley's birthday. Less than two seconds later, his Aunt confirmed his suspicions, telling him to look after the bacon and make it perfect for Duddy's birthday.

Pulling himself out of the cupboard and into the kitchen, he made the bacon, mostly because he hadn't had a chance to cook recently, as Kreacher took personal offense to Harry wanting to cook. Offended house elves were not fun to deal with, so Harry left the issue alone.

Harry was quite honestly uncaring about the current goings-on of the Dursley household. What was really on his mind was finding a way to contact Ginny, to A) Make sure she was back in this time as well, and B) See if she had any real plan on how they were going to change things.

He didn't even notice the Dursleys discussing what to do with him while they went to the zoo, and honestly was so lost in thought he didn't really register anything until Uncle Vernon prodded him to go get in the car.

Harry got in the car, and then vanished from the world again, as he kept running into road-blocks when thinking of ways to contact Ginny. He didn't have an owl yet, so that was out. No floo powder, no floo calls (duh). No wand, so he couldn't send a Patronus. And even when he could, Ginny would be unable to reply. Ugh, there had to be some way to get in touch with her!

When Harry got out at the zoo, he wondered if he could steal Uncle Vernon's wallet and just live here until Hogworts. He then realized that, while it might be a good idea in the short term, there was no way that he could sustain living at a zoo for the next seven summers.

The zoo, in and of itself, was quite dull. When Harry and the Dursley's went to the reptile house, Harry made an effort not to set any of the snakes loose, as he did not want to lose his meals. However, he made an effort to talk to a few of them. He discovered that the zoo snakes had nothing interesting to talk about.

"~Speaker, speaker! Don't talk to them, I'm bigger!~"

"~Speaker, you need to eat more mice.~"

"~Speaker, have you seen that fat one over there? The way he walks… Ha!~"

Nope. Nothing of interest at all.

Harry managed to get back to Privet Drive without incident, and soon went to bed, only to waken around midnight due to a sharp crack and sudden lump on his bed.

"Master Harry! It is Kreacher!" Kreacher yelped when Harry attempted to shove him into the wall.

"Kreacher? Wait… Did you get caught in the sand when the time turner exploded too?" Harry questioned his house elf, though he got the feeling the answer was yes.

"Yes, Master Harry. Can Keacher do anything for Master Harry?"

"Haven't I told you to stop calling me Master? Also-" Harry cut off as he heard footsteps on the stairs. "Hide!" he whispered urgently. "Under the bed!"

Kreacher quickly slid under the bed, only barely making it as the bed took up so much space, and Harry quickly pretended to be asleep, complete with light snoring.

It must have been believable, as when Uncle Vernon opened the cupboard door, no doubt to see if Harry was the source of the cracking noise that had heralded Kreacher's arrival, he just grunted and closed it back.

Harry waited a good ten minutes before he heard Uncle Vernon going back up the stairs and sat up, whispering, "You can come out now, Kreacher."

"Master Harry… where bes this?" Kreacher asked as he pulled himself back up onto the bed.

"Number 4, Privet Drive, Kreacher. We went back in time,and now I am once again stuck in the cupboard under the stairs," Harry sighed. "I wish I could talk to Ginny… If you're here, there's no way she isn't…" Then it hit him, an idea so obvious that Harry facepalmed for not thinking of it sooner, even though he had only had the ability to even think it an option for about ten minutes. "Kreacher, can you take a message to Ginny for me?"

"Kreacher will take Master Harry's message to Mistress Ginny!" Kreacher said indignantly.

"Great! Tell her that we are both here, and ask if there is anything she really wants to preserve or change other than the obvious changes. Also,Kreacher, don't come back tonight, as the Dursley's will blame your apporation on me, and that would be bad."

Kreacher nodded, gave a, "Yes Master Harry!" and vanished with a crack, as Harry attempted or at least pretended to go back to sleep.

Ginny Weasley had just had the strangest day of her life. She had woken up, ten years old again, back at the Burrow. Trying to act normal had been completely impossible as soon as she realised that Fred was alive again.

Her family had thought she was acting very strange when she suddenly began avoiding her Mum like Molly Weasley was ill with the Black Plague, and spent all day tailing the twins like they were going to die overnight. However, she didn't care. Molly, as Ginny refused to call her Mum, had betrayed her trust, ruined her friendships and romantic relationships, and, through the use of the love potions Molly fed to both Ginny and Harry, addled Harry's mind to the point that she might as well be held responsible for the death of Sirius Black. The twins, on the other hand, had never done any of those things, and when he had heard what Molly had done, George had stopped selling any and all love potions. And Fred…

Ginny had missed Fred. The darker of the twins, a bit harsher, but still lovable, and still her big brother. She had missed him so much. The twins, while finding it a bit strange that Ginny was tailing them, kinda accepted it around noon, and actually taught Ginny how to pick locks. Not that she didn't already know, but she liked spending time with Fred and George.

She went to bed that night with a lot on her mind, and wishing she could contact Harry without it looking strange. Then, at about 12:15 that night, she woke when there was a sudden crack and weight on her bed.

"Who's there? I'm warning you!" Ginny called out.

"Mistress Ginny, it is only Kreacher!" Kreacher attempted to calm down the red-head.

"Kreacher? Proper Kreacher, my Kreacher? The Kreacher who won't let anyone else cook?" Ginny could hardly believe it.

"Yes, Mistress Ginny," Kreacher said with a sigh. "Kreacher has a message from Master Harry."

"Really! Oh thank you, thank you, Kreacher!" Ginny gave in to her crazy ten-year-old impulses and gave Kreacher a hug. "You're the best, Kreacher!"

'Th-thank you, Mistress Ginny…" Kreacher seemed quite flustered all of a sudden. "But the message…"

"Oh right… So what is the message?"

"Master Harry would like Mistress Ginny to know that Master Harry and Kreacher are both present, and if Mistress Ginny has anything she wants to keep the same, to let Master Harry know."

"Tell him that there is nothing in particular that I would like to keep… except maybe you!" Ginny giggled as she tackle-hugged Kreacher. "My favorite house-elf."

It hasn't been long since they came back. Kreacher ferries messages back and forth between Harry and Ginny quite often, although he spends much more time at the Burrow with Ginny. Harry and Ginny have been settling back into this time, although with… differing personalities than originally. While the Dursleys notice nothing different about Harry, the Weasleys notice Ginny acting odd immediately, and regard her with suspicion for a while, before they determine that she is actually Ginny Weasley, and not an imposter.

Thankfully, it isn't long until Harry's first Hogworts letter arrives. Harry looks at it, and sees that opening it will get him nowhere but stranded up a creek without a paddle, so he gave it to his Uncle with the rest of the mail.

Harry knew the moment Vernon saw it, as he lept up from his seat with a very loud "WHAT IS THIS, BOY?!"

Harry wasn't in the mood for this, as he needed to tell Ginny and Kreacher about his decision, so he answered back drily, "I don't know, Uncle Vernon, I never get any mail, so I don't look at it anymore."

"THEN WHAT IS THIS?!" Vernon yelled, waving the Hogworts letter in Harry's face.

"I don't know, I didn't send it, so how should I? I don't get mail, and I don't send any, either." Harry desperately wanted to cross his arms and huff, but he figured that doing so would get him into trouble, so he resisted.

"PETUNIA!" Vernon yelled, and then the two of them argued over the letter, just to decide to ignore it. And Harry, but they did that anyway.

Although they did move Harry into Dudley's second bedroom, which made Harry very happy, and gave him time to call Kreacher and tell him about his choice.

When Kreacher showed up, the first thing Harry noticed was that Kreacher had a new outfit, a spare Black family bedsheet, draped like a toga. It looked quite nice, in all honesty. The other thing Harry noticed, was that Kreacher looked very tired.

"Did you get enough sleep last night, Kreacher?" Harry asked his house elf.

"No, Master Harry…" Kreacher said, wobbling on his feet. "Up late… Mrs. Weasley being paranoid… no sleep for Kreacher until three in morning…" He punctuated the end of the sentence with a yawn. "What is it Master Harry needs?"

"I was going to tell you and Ginny about the changes I made to today, but you need to sleep," Harry grabbed a bedsheet and made it into a nest beneath his bed. "Get some rest, Kreacher."

"Yes, Master Harry."

When Kreacher woke up, late that night, Harry was still up, drawing a picture on a loose bit of paper that had been laying around. It was a very nice picture too, of Harry, Ginny, and Kreacher, with Harry and Ginny in muggle clothes and Kreacher in his bedsheet-toga. However, as soon as he noticed that Kreacher was awake, Harry put down the pencil-nub he had been drawing with, and turned to face Kreacher.

"Good evening, Kreacher, did you have a nice rest?" he said, smiling in that way that Kreacher had never seen any-one but Harry, Ginny, Harry and Ginny's kids, or Hermione ever give him. A lovely grin that told Kreacher that, even though he was their house-elf, they saw him as their equal, their friend, something that no house Black member, not even Regulus, had ever seen him.

"Yes, Master Harry," Kreacher grinned, as the 'Master' or 'Mistress' titles were really the only thing about house Black he wouldn't drop. Even if he wouldn't give up his life with Harry and Ginny for anything, house Black was where he began, and, he would admit it held some sentimental value.

Harry sighed, and told Kreacher about the changes he had made that day, ignoring the Hogworts letter and being witty at his Uncle. Kreacher ginned, and with a crack, vanished from Privet Drive and re-appeared back at the Burrow, only to immediately be tackled by a slightly worried and very relieved Ginny.

"Kreacher!" she said, hugging the house-elf close. "What happened?"

"Master Harry told Kreacher to take a nap," he deadpanned. "So Kreacher took a nap."

"Oh…" Ginny looked quite sheepish. "I guess I was worried over nothing, huh? I thought the Dursleys might have found you or something…"

"While not at all similar to what happened, that is a valid fear, Mistress Ginny," Kreacher assured his beloved mistress. "Kreacher be scared of what happens if Dursleys be catching him!"

"Oh, Kreacher, I won't let them hurt you!" Ginny said as she, once again, gave Kreacher a hug. "Oh, wait… What did Harry call you over there for? I doubt it was just to take a nap."

"No, Mistress Ginny! Master Harry was telling Kreacher about some minor changes he had made. They are not likely to change much, but beware the butterfly effect, Mistress Ginny!"

"Of course, Kreacher. What were these minor changes?" Ginny asked the house-elf kindly.

"Master Harry bes cheeky to his Uncle Walrus, and gave him the Hogworts letter without opening it!" Kreacher burst out.

"Why would he not… oh. Oh. Oh!" A look of realization dawned on Ginny's face. "Yes… I'm not certain he could make it to Diagon if he opened it now… Clever, Harry!"

Harry was bored out of his mind. The letters had progressed just like before, with more and more of them coming, and the eggs and what-not all going on, and, just like before, they had left.

Just before they left, Harry had slipped away to the bathroom to call Kreacher and inform him not to contact Harry until Harry called for him, because this was not a safe time for Kreacher, and Harry would practically never be alone until after Hagrid had both come, and left.

Ginny was worried about him, Harry knew that, but he couldn't do anything about it, because what he had said had been quite true, and all three of them were well aware of that.

So here he was, waiting at the Hut on the Rock again, on the floor with only the thinnest of blankets over him. Dudley's watch told him that his birthday was in only a minute, and Harry was carefully listening for Hagrid. But, Harry heard nothing like Hagrid.

When midnight rolled around, Harry did not hear a boom as Hagrid slammed on the door. Instead, he heard a polite yet fierce knock, is such a thing were possible. Just who was at the door?


	2. Chapter 2

When Uncle Vernon burst into the main room, shouting, "Who's there? I'm warning you, I'm armed!" Harry tried very hard not to laugh. For starters, while whomever was outside was not Hagrid, like it had been the first time, there was no doubt that they were magical, and the rifle was still as shite as it had been before. Secondly, Harry just felt like laughing. His rescuer cometh!

Well, that bit might have been a lie. Or at least an exaggeration.

Whoever was knocking grew quickly exasperated, and soon the door flung open by itself. Harry had to bite back a gasp when he saw who it was, as she was quite familiar to him. There was no doubt that the one standing in the doorway was no other than Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor house. She looked a bit ruffled, most likely a combination of the wind outside and her less than welcome invitation into the hut.

"What in Merlin's name -! Don't point that thing at me!" She gasped as she saw the gun, before quickly transfiguring it into something much safer - a quill. Now the Dursleys looked horrified, and Harry was grinning like a Cheshire Cat, for seeing someone barge in and turn a gun into a quill certainly wasn't something you saw everyday!

When she turned and saw Harry, on the floor with the worst blanket, just like the last time, she started screaming. "I told him! I told that Albus Dumbledore that this was no place for you! The worse kind of Muggles! Hmph!" She angrily shook her wand in Vernon and Petunia's faces, saying in a dangerously low voice, "I'm going to take him with me now, and call the law on you."

Harry, for his part, was shocked. He had never imagined this as a possibility! But now… he might be getting away, permanently, at just eleven! Then he shook his head, wondering, for the first time, why this hadn't happened before? It made no logical sense, if getting someone to the authorities could get him out, why hadn't Hagrid or Mrs. Weasley? Or any of the Order members, really? Hagrid, he could sort of understand, as Hagrid was Hagrid and not-really-supposed-to-do-magic and probably didn't really trust the ministry. The Order members might not have wanted to explain why they were in his house, which was a poor excuse, and Harry knew it, but he wanted to still trust in them, and trust his past. But Mrs. Weasley? Harry had no lingering reasons for Harry to want to trust her stashed away in his mind, and he could think of no excuse as to why she hadn't gone to the Ministry to report that Harry had had bars on his windows!

But here was Minerva McGonagall, a woman he had stopped trusting at the end of first year when she hadn't believed him about the Philosopher's Stone, doing the one thing Harry had hoped for when he was little but had never gotten, telling off the Dursley's for how they treated him, with a promise to go to the authorities.

His brain felt like it had just exploded, but he had to play along, so he shook his head to clear it, and asked, "Excuse me, Ma'am, but who are you?"

At that, Minerva spun around to face Harry, and a sad smile appeared on her face as she said, "I'm sorry Harry, my name is Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogworts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Harry, determined to continue playing dumb, said, "What School of What? And how did you do that thing with the gun earlier?"

Professor McGonagall looked very angry at Harry's level of ignorance, but she replied with, "Not here. I don't like these Muggles, and I am certain that you don't either. Come with me, please!" She turned toward the door and began to walk away, with a sort of 'follow me' gaint.

Harry quickly scrambled to his feet and ran after her, not wanting her to leave him behind.

Ginny was worried out of her mind. It had been a few days since she had heard from Harry, and she had no clue if he was alright. When she was around her family, she forced herself to act normal, but whenever it was just her, or just her and Kreacher, she was a nervous wreck, and couldn't stop pacing.

Kreacher told her she was wearing a hole in the floor from all her pacing, but she didn't care. She kept pacing, she had to do something, Harry was her best friend in all the world, she knew him better than anyone, and that worried her.

"Oh dear, what if Hagrid doesn't come? What if they just assume Harry doesn't want to go? Oh dear, oh dear…" She was rambling, and she knew that, but she couldn't bring herself to stop.

"Mistress Ginny, calm down," Kreacher implored her, many times over. While he was also a bit worried, he knew that Harry was going to be fine, simply because he was Harry, and Harry was always fine, even after things like being bitten by a Basilisk.

Ginny knew that too, but it didn't help, not even a little bit, and she couldn't take her mind off the issue. Also not helping the issue, was the presence of Luna Lovegood.

Not because Ginny didn't like Luna, quite the opposite, in fact. Ginny liked Luna a lot, perhaps a bit more than a ten-year-old really should, and the fact that she was so close to someone she trusted so much yet could say nothing, at least, not without running it by Harry first, and Luna was Luna enough that she sometimes picked up on things, so Ginny couldn't risk actually interacting with her very much… or at all.

As a result, Ginny spent almost all of her time pacing. Kreacher wasn't wrong, she had paced to the point a grove had begun to form, and so she had changed where she was pacing. The pacing was all she could do, but it didn't help. It didn't help either of them.

Harry felt like laughing. Professor McGonagall had not only explained magic, the wizarding world, and his role as the boy-who-lived, but had also taken him to the Ministry to get a custody transfer! The best part was when the pulled out the Potter will and discovered that Harry should never have been with the Dursleys, at least in Harry's opinion.

Although, a close second was when they discovered that it had been Peter Pettigrew, and not Sirius Black, who had been the Potter's secret keeper. He was going to be immediately released from Azkaban and sent to a mind healer, and custody of Harry would be given to him after Harry's first year at Hogworts.

At the same time, Harry discovered another betrayal, as he learned that Dumbledore knew Sirius was innocent, but kept that knowledge to himself. That part made Harry very angry.

It was also decided that Harry would stay with Professor McGonagall the rest of the summer, and Dumbledore was sacked from all his positions. This made her Headmistress McGonagall, and she swept through the school, cutting out some really stupid things.

Snape was fired for blatant favoritism, Trelawny was fired because Minerva knew that having a divination class was quite stupid, although Trelawny was kept on as a tutor for true seers; and Binns was fired because he was a ghost, and no-one was learning anything from him.

To replace Snape, she hired a bright young woman named Morianna Thompson, a half-blood with a nine-year-old daughter named Kaylyn. Kaylyn was already quite good at potions, having studied them under her mother since she was five, and, until she turned eleven and could truly attend Hogworts, would help her mother with trivial things around the classroom.

And, to replace Binns, Minerva hired Remus Lupin. This made Harry quite excited for the school year to begin.

Diagon Alley had been dull, really, as nothing really changed except that they were at Madame Malkins at a different time than Draco Malfoy, so Harry didn't get to utterly baffle him as Harry had planned out. Poor Harry. Lucky Malfoy.

Anyway, Harry finally got the chance to be alone enough for long enough to call Kreacher after a few days. He was unsurprised, but a little annoyed, that the first thing Kreacher did was hug him.

Harry may have just stood there awkwardly while Kreacher rambled about how worried he and Ginny had been.

When Kreacher finally calmed down, Harry began to explain the recent events to him, and shared his thoughts on things, in particular, Dumbledore and Harry's previous continued abandonment to the Dursleys.

Kreacher seemed to take it all in stride, but then he spoke up, "Oh, Kreacher bes going to has lots of fun telling this to Mistress Ginny," just before he vanished with a crack.

Now, as Minerva was staying at the school to set up things before the school year began, Harry was also at Hogworts before school began, and as a result spent a very large amount of time wandering the hallways. As a result, he got to interact with many of the ghosts and a few of the professors.

Most notable was this time he literally ran into Remus Lupin.

"Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry!" Harry sputtered afterward. This was so not the first impression he had wanted to make on the werewolf. "I wasn't looking where I was going, I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine," Remus tried to wave off the black-haired boy. "Trust me."

"N-no, it's not!" Harry proclaimed, "Oh, this is so not how I wanted to first talk to you…"

"You… Wanted to talk to me? Wh-why?" Remus was a bit confused. He had wanted to talk to Harry, himself, but had been unable to work up the courage to speak with him, as he wasn't sure Harry wanted to talk to him.

"Minerva says that you were friends with my parents," Harry wasn't technically lying, Minerva had told him that, but that wasn't why he wanted to talk to Remus. "Could you- could you tell me about them?" Merlin, he was really laying it on thick. However, he admitted that it might be necessary. At least in this case.

In the end, Remus agreed to tell Harry about James and Lily, and Harry, although he had heard many of the stories before, enjoied them twice as much this time, because as Remus told them, he rediscovered more and more of himself, and in front of Harry's eyes, Remus was digging up a part of himself he had long buried: He was digging up Moony.

When Kreacher popped back into Ginny's room in the Burrow, he was (once again) immediately tackle-hugged. The reason for such a reaction was really obvious, as Kreacher had just been called by Harry for the first time in a week. A long week, with a subsequent groove in the floor, but a week none the less.

"Kreacher! Kreeeacher! What did he say, what did he say? Is he ok? Are you ok? Am I ok? What happened to him, to you, to me? Did he explain about why my parents are purposely trying to make sure I don't read the Prophet these past few days or why them suddenly began to spew forth praise to Dumbledore every time the chance arose?" Ginny was babbling, she knew she was babbling, but she really didn't care, she had to get this all out.

"Mistress Ginny, Kreacher can explain better if Mistress Ginny lets go of him…" Kreacher ground out, barely able to breath from Ginny's tight hug.

"Oh, right, sorry, Kreacher," Ginny said, "I've just been so worried, I-"

"Kreacher is well aware of how worried Mistress Ginny was. There be a grove in her floor to prove it."

Ginny looked very sheepish at that, and flushed bright red. "Well, uh, that is to say, um, well, I… I have no excuse," She finally admitted, flushing an even brighter shade of red in embarrassment.

"Master Harry escaped the wicked filth with the help of the Cat-Headmistress, freed Master Sirius, and managed to get the Bumblebee fired," Kreacher summed up what Harry had told him. "Master Harry bes going to try to speak to his wolf-man so that they be friends later."

"Oh!" Ginny practically squealed. "Moony and Padfoot! I haven't seen them in ages!" Then she paused, and thought about how Sirius had acted towards Kreacher the last time she saw him. "Oh, Kreacher, I'm so sorry you're going to have to put up with how Sirius treats you…"

"Mistress Ginny," Kreacher said in an attempt at a soothing voice, which, to note, failed miserably, as his voice was slightly vindictive, "Kreacher has moved past Master Sirius. Any order Mistress Ginny or Master Harry gives Kreacher is more important than Master Sirius' orders."

"Oh," Ginny said, and then realized where this might be a problem. "We're going to have to explain the time-travel thing to Sirius, aren't we?"

"Most likely, Mistress Ginny."

"Well," she replied, "This is going to be fun."


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the summer, which wasn't long at all, past very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that Harry had forgotten the date when the first of September rolled around. He only remembered before noon because Minerva had insisted he ride the train because of tradition.

To put it simply: Harry was not amused. At all.

He had not wanted to deal with the other students on the train, on the basis that he was at this point far older than them, and he had wanted to avoid interacting with non-Ginny members of the populous as much as possible. He wasn't sure he could handle it after a point.

Of course, if he was going on the train, that option was quickly thrown out the window. He couldn't help but wander…

How would the Wizarding World react if their supposed 'savior' was completely insane?

Well, maybe not completely insane, but at least a little bit insane.

Okay, Harry was a little amused. Not that he would express such a thing!

Anyway, Harry now found himself on Platform 9 and ¾, getting on the train, and waiting to see who would join him on the train. He was prepared to see anyone… except the one girl who entered the compartment where he was sitting.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger. Do you mind if I sit here?" She said to him, bushy hair just like he remembered it. She was smiling at him, like she used to do all the time before the Discovery.

"N-not at all… Please sit down," Harry forced out after a moment. He gave a half-hearted grin to his… old? New? His friend, none-the-less. He felt bad for abandoning the other Hermione he knew, whom the Discovery had broken beyond all repair. Not directly, but still.

Ron had been in on the potions deal, and when he learned that they had thought something fishy, but before they found out, upped the dosage he was giving to Hermione, to the point of an overdose.

She had become a puppet, never doing anything without being told. It had been so obvious that it had been the final clue Harry and Ginny had needed.

Harry looked at this Hermione, talking at him a mile a minute, not even realizing that he wasn't listening, and, with a smile, vowed that the same thing would never happen to this Hermione. Ever.

Ginny was bored. Ginny was very, very bored. Why was Ginny bored? Ginny was bored because her family was going to Kings Cross, and she couldn't get on the train. Technically. Unless…

Well, she had a plan. It wasn't a very good plan, and she was likely to be found out quite quickly and get in more trouble than it was worth, but the 20% chance that it would work would be so perfect, she had to try.

After her mother loudly screamed out the platform number and quite possibly broke the Statute of Secrecy several times over as they paraded back and forth in search of a Harry Potter who was not there, but Molly had insisted would be because Dumbledore had said so.

Nevermind that Dumbledore had said so before he lost his job at Hogworts. And the wizengamot. And the ICW. Ginny really wasn't sure why her mother was still so certain because "Dumbledore said."

However, all that wasted time made Molly quite flustered and the family quite almost left behind when they did enter the Platform, and, due to Molly's rushed double- and triple-checks of her brothers, Ginny found it quite easy to slip away into the crowd.

Ginny wasted no time in boarding the train, and hurried along, trying to find Harry, which she did rather quickly, and she saw Hermione in there, but at the moment, she didn't care, she had to speak to Harry.

"Harry!" She cried as she flung the door open.

"Ginny?" Harry let out something that sounded a bit like a squawk of surprise. "What are you doing here? Aren't you a year younger?"

Hermione just looked really perplexed, and offered no input to the conversation.

"Nevermind that, Harry, hide me! Quickly, before Ronald comes looking for you! Or- or cast a glamor or two on me, or something!" She burst out.

"Er- alright, Gin… One glamor, coming up…" Harry cast a quick, rather sloppy glamor over Ginny, making her look like a black-haired, gray-eyed girl. He also cast a sloppy glamor on her clothes, changing their color. "You realize we're gonna have to explain this to Hermione…"

"Yes, yes, I'm well aware of that, but I don't really care about it right now, I snuck aboard the train, and Molly's going to freak soon, and when that happens, I can't look like myself!" Ginny plopped down in the seat next to Harry's. "As of this moment, until I am discovered, I am eleven year old Jennifer Zola, yes? Yes."

"Alright, Gin. As of this moment, you are Jennifer Zola." Harry agreed with her. "When we get the chance, we are going to have to get better glamors for you and- clothes! The uniform! Kreacher!"

At this point, Hermione was so confused, her head was spinning, but she still said nothing, she felt like this was very important, but couldn't say how. However, she was not expecting the little being that popped into the room.

"Master Harry called Kreacher?" Kreacher stated, but made it sound like a question. "What can Kreacher do for Master Harry?"

"Kreacher, I need you to get the supplies on this list, please. Not for me, I already have mine, but for Gin. Oh, and Gin is sneaking into Hogworts this year, and will be going by Jennifer Zola. Please refer to her as such when anyone around might overhear who does not already know. As for Gin's wand… Gin, you should be free right after the feast, correct? Have Kreacher pick you up then to go get your wand." Harry rattled off the game plan.

"Sounds like a plan, Harry. Oh, and Kreacher? Get my uniform first and bring it back right away so I can change into it," Ginny quickly added on.

"Yes, Master Harry and Mistress Ginny," Kreacher said, and vanished with a crack.

"What on Earth just happened?" Hermione finally spoke up , completely confused by the events of the past few minutes.

"We'll explain soon," Ginny promised, "But not now, Ronald's on his way!"

"Ronald?"Hermione asked, "Who is Ronald?"

But she never got an answer to her question, as at that moment, a boy with red hair slid open the compartment door, noticed Harry, and asked, "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"No," Ginny said, quite bluntly. "I highly doubt that is the case, as the train will magically extend itself if there is not enough room. I read about it, you know."

"Well, I mean, everywhere I checked was full…" Ron amended.

"I bet you just want to sit here because you saw Harry Potter in here," She scoffed, not at all pulling her punches.

"I'm not some sort of sack of meat," Harry protested. "Shove off."

"But- but what about them?" Ron was grasping at straws now, because he was eleven, and had not been expecting this sort of thing.

"Jennifer and I have known each-other for years, and Hermione here didn't recognize me until after she had been sitting with me a few minutes. They don't want to sit with me just because I'm famous," Harry imitated Ginny by scoffing.

"Er- alright, then…" Ron clearly out of arguments to throw at them, slid the door shut and slunk away.

Ginny then turned to Hermione and said, "That was Ronald. Isn't he so awful?"

"I don't know…"Hermione replied. "That was the only time I've ever seen him, and I don't know much about him…"

"He was my brother," Ginny said. "I'm renouncing him. What do you think, Harry? After I'm eventually found out, because there is no way I can do it indefinitely, I'll keep the Ginny from Ginny Weasley and the Zola of Jennifer Zola, Yeah?"

"Sounds good to me," Harry said with a roll of his eyes. "But let's try to keep you undercover as long as we can, alright?"

"Well, duh, Harry!" Ginny shot back at him.

"And I believe that we own Hermione an explanation, do we not, Gin?" Harry pointed out.

"Yes, you do! I am very lost right now!" Hermione piped up.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I-" Ginny was interrupted by the crack of apparition.

"Mistress Ginny's Hogworts Uniform," Kreacher stated unnecessarily, and handed said uniform to Ginny quickly, before vanishing with another crack.

"And we can explain," Ginny said, as she slid open the door to the compartment, "After I change into my robes."

After a few awkward minutes where Harry and Hermione just stared at each-other, Ginny re-entered the compartment, wearing a spotless uniform and holding her horrid, frayed old dress in her hands.

"Harry, burn this for me, ok?" She said as she handed the dress to Harry.

"Not now, Gin, we need to explain to Hermione!" Harry scolded his friend. "I couldn't very well do it while you weren't here."

"Well, alright," Ginny turned to face Hermione. "Me and Harry are from a horrid future, where my parental units and nasty brother used love potions, which should be illegal but aren't, on me, Harry, and you. We came back in time by accident, and we're gonna use this chance to make things better. Any questions?"

"Yes!" Hermione practically yelled. "First off, you should have said 'Harry and I,' second, love potions? Third, how did you come back in time, even accidentally?"

"In order?" Harry replied, "Yes, Gin's has horrid grammar, as do I; Yes, love potions; and an experimental new time-turner. Do you still have questions?"

"Yes, but I'm sure that just by being around you I'll get them answered, so why bother asking?" Hermione pointed out.

"Point taken," Harry said, right as the door to the compartment slid open to reveal the trolley lady.

Harry noted that they must have been talking for quite a long while, and bought some Chocolate Frogs for everyone. While the three of them were eating the sugary frog-shaped candy, the door again slid open, this time to reveal Neville Longbottom.

Neville was looking for Trevor, and, after some reassurance from Harry and Ginny that the toad would be found before the sorting at Hogworts, and a reminder that the older students could cast a summoning charm, the time-traveling duo and Hermione sent him on his way, and went back to eating chocolate.

The peace and idle chitter-chatter (mostly about how evil Molly and Ron were, but it was a little repetitive) was, in retrospect, much to nice to last, as the door to the compartment was, once again, pushed open.

"I heard that Harry Potter's in this compartment," said a pompous voice. "So that would but you, then?" A blond boy that Harry would recognize anywhere was looking at him from the doorway.

Draco Malfoy had arrived.


	4. Chapter 4

"Yes, that's me," Harry said. "Who's asking, if I may ask?"

"Er - Well - I'm Draco Malfoy," Malfoy said, seemingly put off by Harry's rather formal response, but Harry knew he had to be formal until Draco's walls came down. He had been rather good friends with his other Draco, after all. He and Ginny had fled to Draco and Astoria's house for a day after the Hermione tragedy.

Harry had been happy to get over the schoolboy grudge and be friends with Draco Malfoy, and now he had a chance to make that grudge never exist in the first place. He couldn't be overly familiar and ruin it.

"It's nice to meet you," he said, for lack of a better word. "These are my friends, Hermione Granger and Jennifer Zola."

The grin on Hermione's face at being called Harry's friend was too bright, the look in her eyes too shocked and new to this, it made a bittersweet feeling fill Harry and Ginny's chests, bitter at all those who hadn't been Hermione's friends before, sweet that they were the ones changing that.

"Oh," said Malfoy, "Well, I-I've never heard of a Granger or a Zola family, and my father says-" Harry cut him off.

"Why don't you make your own opinions?" Harry asked. "Making your own opinions sets you apart, and is an important part of becoming your own person."

"When did you turn into a philosopher, Harry?" Ginny demanded. "And when were you going to tell me about your new profession?"

"Gin!" Harry protested.

"I'm just messing with you, Harry," Ginny replied with a laugh. "It is good advice, and very true. I'm just upset it took me so long to see that." She laughed for a minute, and then, seemingly randomly, stated, "I think I want to cut my hair shorter. And maybe some green bits in it? What do you think, Harry?"

"I think it's your hair, and you can do whatever with it," Harry replied.

"Yeah, green," Ginny began thinking out loud. "Purple would make me seem conceited and snobby, pink and black is just too… no, pink would only work if my hair was blond. Blue and black is double dark, lame. So green it is."

"Hey!" Draco said, reminding everyone that he was there. "What do you mean, opinions, these things my father says are facts! Blood traitors!" He spun on his heel and left in a huff.

"Aww…" Ginny said after the door slammed shut. "I miss our Draco… he would have joined in the hair discussion, demanded I leave it as is, and then proceed to give me death threats if I really tried to dye it!"

"We'll get through to him, Gin," Harry promised her. "Trust me, we'll wear him down. Now, what's the plan for once we get to the castle?"

"I chose a 'Z' name for a reason, Harry! Just shoot a confundus at the list McGonagall has, and my new name will show up at the bottom. Then she'll call me and I'll get sorted. Duh."

"I think you are the only one who would go 'duh' after that explanation," Hermione interjected.

"But it does make sense," Harry said. "Right. We have a plan."

Harry, Ginny, and Hermione sat on the same boat across the lake, along with some girl with pale eyes, paler hair, yet paler skin, and glasses. She looked like a stick and introduced herself as Lily Moon, and then proceeded to explain that she was blind, and the glasses allowed her to see magical signatures only. Harry and Ginny were strongly reminded of Luna.

However, that Luna-esce feeling rapidly faded, as Lily never talked of Nargles or Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, but instead commentated on the colors and flowing patterns of each magical aura she saw. She said that each person had a neutral color, and their own set of colors for strong emotions. It could take her months to learn to read someone.

In addition, she said that each person had a pattern, a way that their magic flowed from their core to the rest of their body, and objects always had the same pattern as the person who imbued it with magic to begin with. Creatures, like Thestrals or Dragons, had patterns but not colors.

"You, Harry Potter," she said in a tone of voice that sounded both far away and matter-of-fact all at once, "Have a neutral-Advada aura, with a sharp, seemingly random zigzag pattern that branches off like the lightning bolts in the sky, but not like the movement on your head."

"I… Alright…" Harry was confused. Movement on his head? What?

"And Ginny We- No," she continued on, ignoring Harry's confusion. "Ginny Zola, with the jaded lavender-gray aura and the broken flow, like a broken beaver dam meeting another and having to break through again, and again, and again. Who broke you? Who betrayed you, jaded your aura?"

Ginny's eyes flew wide, and she scooted away from Lily, a little scared of this girl's insight.

"I'm sorry," Lily suddenly said, right after Ginny moved. "You moved away after I read your aura. Did I scare you? I shall try not to do so again. Look! Hogwarts! A wondrous magical building, glowing like a billion suns across the sky! The four colors swoop around like great phoenixes, showing off for all to see!"

"Woah," Hermione gasped, seeing the school for the first time. "It's beautiful, I can see it!"

Harry chuckled. "It looks so impressive now, but when… Before… it was just home. It was always home. Always. I'm so happy to be back."

"I can't really say I totally relate on that front, Harry," Ginny sighed. "I can't really say I have truly found home yet. But for now… a school, a house will do."

"That's depressing, Ginny," Lily interjected. "You've made Hermione's aura go sky-blue."

"Enough already!" Harry said. "Let's just go get sorted."

Crowds were not fun places to be, and being crowded around by nervous and scared first years was even worse. Harry was just irritated that they were crowding in, but Lily seemed to be in pain.

"Lily, what's wrong?" Hermione asked the girl.

"It's all muddled, Hermione," Lily whimpered. "Their auras all scream, 'help me, help me,' and flare bright and there are so many and all around me and help me, I can't open my eyes to this, help me find a place to sit, please, Hermione."

"Of course, Lily. Here, there are less people over this way," Hermione lead Lily off, over to a far corner of the room.

Remaining near the center, Harry and Ginny were discussing where they thought the hat would put them this time. Quietly, mind you, they didn't want anyone to overhear.

"I'm fairly certain I have to be a Gryff still, or Dumbledore's remaining supporters will be on me faster than vultures to a carcass," Harry told his best friend. "What about you? Anyplace you think you're most likely to go after all this time?"

"I think that I could be either a Gryff or a Slytherin this time around," Ginny admitted. "I would have never even considered Slytherin before the potions were gone… damn the woman. I kinda want to be a Snake just to spite her, even if she won't notice or care for a while."

"Hopefully never, but realistically, I suspect we won't be able to keep it up even all of this year," Harry reminded her with a sigh. "I think that we'll be lucky if the twins don't find you out by the end of the month, to be honest."

"I know, I know," Ginny sighed. "I wish I could say the same about Percy, in truth. If he keeps putting reputation and duty ahead of family this time like he did last time…" She trailed off. "I don't want to lost another of my brothers. In my mind, I already lost one."

Neither of them needed to voice which brother she had lost.

Pomona Sprout suddenly pushed the doors open and told the students to follow her, please. Harry assumed that she was the one that Minerva had decided to have take the place of Deputy Headmistress. Ginny just grinned, a brand new Hogwarts journey was about to begin!

Hermione helped Lily back to her feet and led her along toward the great hall, where she gasped all of a sudden and dropped Lily's arm. Lily stumbled and her eyes flew open, only for her to gasp.

"It's so pretty," she gasped. "It's not like back there, where everyone's aura was fighting to be seen over the others, they're all harmonious, a four part harmony! Goddess above, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, nothing I saw even before I lost my normal sight could ever compare to this!"

"Normal sight?" Hermione asked her. "What happened?"

"N-nothing," Lily shut up quickly. "Just an accident when I was about seven. Don't worry about it."

Needless to say, Hermione was still a bit concerned about this topic, and now Harry and Ginny were too. Lily didn't care, though. She didn't want to talk about it. The nightmares were enough.

Then Professor Sprout began to call the names of those being sorted. The little group of four didn't really care until it got down to Hermione, but Harry went ahead and fired off that confundus real quick without anyone noticing. Well, Lily noticed, but she didn't say anything. She was sure Harry would explain it to her later.

When Hermione was called, she practically raced forward and jammed the hat onto her head, she was so thrilled. The hat seemed lost in thought for a little while, before finally deciding and yelling, "RAVENCLAW!" at the top of its non-existent lungs.

"That's different," Ginny muttered.

"What's different?" Lily asked, since she had overheard. She knew that Jennifer Zola was not who she said she was, but her gut said to trust her. However, that didn't stop Lily from being curious.

"Nothing," Ginny assured her, but Lily felt it was the same kind of nothing that she used to describe her accident. Not really nothing at all.

"Malfoy, Draco!"

"Oh, goddess, no…" Lily sunk to her knees. No, no! He was here? He was in her year, watching her! What if they tried again? No, no, no… They couldn't! But still… Lily was afraid now. Goddess, a Malfoy? As if the nightmares weren't bad enough…

She looked at the boy on the stool and memorized his color and pattern so she could avoid him later. Currently, he was some combination of Jade and Puke… Avocado? Although that might just be his nervous-color. His pattern, on the other hand, was smooth. It was smooth, slow, and faint, like it didn't want anyone to notice it was moving at all. Like it wanted to disappear.

All in all, it looked sickly and pathetic in Lily's eyes, and when the hat said Draco was headed for Slytherin, she knew she wasn't going there. She would give anything to not have to face to past.

Then her name was called, and she somehow got up off the floor and stumbled to the place where the red-aura'd Sorting Hat sat a bit off the floor. A stool, she figured. She picked up the hat and put it on her head.

Harry and Ginny's eyes were on her, she could feel them. They were trying to understand her reaction and she didn't blame them.

She still wanted them to leave it well enough alone. She couldn't handle this.

The hat slid into her mind. She could feel it. He tried to see where she would fit and it drew already near the surface memories of the incident to the forefront. Flashes of blond hair and her father's death flitted across her mind's eye. Blood on the ground and her last real sight, that spell, hurtling toward her.

Tears began to fall from her otherwise rather useless eyes, as she often thought of them. She wanted to get off this stool. Anywhere other than Slytherin. Anywhere. Goddess, she needed off. Now.

She felt the hat open up it's mouth and then announce her new house. She was so upset, but it was-

"GRYFFINDOR!"


	5. Chapter 5

Right after the hat yelled out where Lily was headed and the next person was called, Harry drew his wand and cast a soft Cunfundus under his breath, adding the name Jennifer Zola to the end of said list.

No-one noticed, and he gave Ginny a subtle thumbs up, making her smirk. As a matter of fact, she did a little victory dance, but everyone around her thought she was moving because she was nervous.

"Potter, Harry!" McGonagall yelled, reading from the list.

"Wish me luck," Harry whispered to Ginny before he walked up to the stool, the whole school staring.

When the hat fell over his eyes, he began to hear the thing.

"Hmm… Interesting. A time traveler, that's a new one," the hat chuckled. "I suppose that since we've spoken before and yet you do not know my name, I should introduce myself this time. I am Alistar, the hat of Godric Gryffindor."

Harry tilted his head ever so slightly to the side and made a noncommittal noise.

Alistar chuckled again and continued, "I have sorted you before, and at that point, I yelled for Gryffindor, but that no longer fits you, does it? No… you are still brave, but not so foolishly as before, because you learned that people would care if you were to die."

Harry blushed, he hadn't even realised he had thought he wouldn't be missed when he was young.

"And so I will not put you there. You could still fit into the house of snakes, but you think you cannot go there without raising suspicion about you, and you are correct in that regard. As much as it pains me to say it, I cannot send you there for your own safety. You are by no means a Ravenclaw. Hmm…"

Harry wished the damned hat would just get on with it.

"Hufflepuff would be the perfect place for you. You are fiercely loyal to those you care about, and unless they've done something against you or those you are loyal to, you like to keep the playing field fair. Yes… There is no doubt in mind that you belong in HUFFLEPUFF!"

Harry stood up, a little surprised by this turn of events, but grinned anyway. He walked over to the table and sat down at the very end. The girl next to him, a fellow first year, turned to him and introduced herself as Susan Bones. Harry gave her a small smile and turned back to the sorting.

Quite honestly, up until Blaise Zabini was called, Harry was only half paying attention. However, he remembered that Zabini was the last called the first go-round, and that therefore Ginny would be next.

Ginny, on the other hand, would not stop fidgeting. She was quite nervous, what if her plan didn't work? However, it appeared her fears were unfounded, as McGonagall, who had quite honestly yet to pick a deputy, yelled for "Zola, Jennifer!"

Ginny gave herself a mental smirk and practically danced up to the stool and jammed the hat on her head.

"Well now, another time traveler!" the hat chuckled, because he appeared to be incapable of anything other than chuckling. "I know exactly where to put you, you little mischief-maker! SLYTHERIN!"

Ginny laughed as she pulled the hat off her head and tossed it into the air before skipping off towards the Slytherin table, plopping down into the open seat next to Blaise Zabini with a cheery, "Hello!"

Zabini gave her this really strange face, and then turned back to their housemates to talk to them.

Ginny huffed. "Well, that's just rude."

McGonagall looked a bit disgruntled that she had had to catch the Sorting Hat as it fell back down, shot Ginny a look of disapproval, but then stalked up to her seat and began to speak to the school as a whole.

"Welcome to another wonderful year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My name, for those who do not know me, is Headmistress McGonagall. This year, we have a few changes in the teaching staff. Please give a warm welcome to our new Potions Professor, Professor Thompson!"

Morianna Thompson stood up and gave a small curtsey as her daughter giggled in the background, and there was a moderate amount of clapping, mostly from the non-Slytherins.

"Any words for the students, Professor Thompson?" McGonagall asked the new professor.

"I'm glad to be teaching all of you!" Morianna said in a voice that was very high-pitched and melodic, almost to the point of being distracting. Her voice contrasted sharply with her close-cropped messy blond hair, slightly greasy from always being around potion fumes, and her scruffy, messy robes that she had never felt the need to replace in the seven years she'd had them. "I sincerely hope you all enjoy my lessons!"

Morianna sat down again, but that didn't stop the Great Hall from hearing her as she turned to her daughter and said, "And you, Missy, had better not switch any of my ingredient labels, got it?"

"Mum!" Kaylyn's whining could be heard by everyone. "Would I do that?"

"You have before, and don't you dare give me the puppy face! There wasn't anyone else in the house and you know it!"

The whole hall burst into laughter, and even McGonagall and Kaylyn herself cracked a smile. Which was quite stunning for Kaylyn, after all, it is a bit embarrassing to her told off by your mother in front of the whole of Hogwarts.

McGonagall shook her head. "Let's get back on track, shall we? The second change in our staff is Remus Lupin as the new History of Magic teacher and Head of Gryffindor House. Any words, Remus?"

"Well," Remus began. "I do hope you find my classes more interesting than Binns, which shouldn't be hard. I think there were maybe four people in my year that stayed awake in Binns' class, if that!"

The was smattered chuckling around the room.

"I want to do my best to teach everyone, and all people learn differently, so I will be having a variety of lesson styles, and I know each of you will excel at something."

Harry grinned. If there were going to be a variety of lesson styles, that meant at least some, if not most, of the lessons would be more hands on, and, Harry knew Remus, knew that there would be some pranks as part of at least some of those lessons. Remus was, after all, Marauder Moony.

Ginny laughed. She already knew that she would adore Remus' lessons, and was wondering if she could get away with calling him 'Professor Moony'. Honestly, she figured the answer was probably yes. That got her thinking… What would the twins think if they knew one of the new Professors was one of their idols? Probably 'Best Professor Ever,' but she now really wanted to find out. Now, how to make it unsuspect?

Lily took one look at Remus' aura and went, "Huh." She really didn't care if the new Professor was a Werewolf, but it was still interesting. "Two in the school…" She murmured quietly.

Hermione mentally noted that she was probably going to like History of Magic, but thought about what Remus had said about the old Professor and wondered why a Professor who allowed the whole class to sleep on him hadn't been fired sooner.

Remus gave the hall one last smile and sat back down to modest clapping.

"Headmistress McGonagall?" yelled some seventh year Ravenclaw, "Who will be taking your post as Transfiguration Professor?"

McGonagall gave the Ravenclaw a stern look over her glasses. "I believe I was just about to announce that. Or did you doubt me, Miss Flaversham?"

"No Ma'am, just curious since there are no other new people up at the Head Table," Flaversham, a mousey-looking girl, the Head Girl this year, cheekily retorted.

"Yes, well, this one wanted to make an entrance, and I allowed it since it is her first year teaching," McGonagall sniffed. "It should prove to be… interesting…" She mentally chuckled. 'Interesting' was certainly going to be one word for it.

"Fair enough," Flaversham decided and turned away.

Suddenly, the doors to the Great Hall swung open with a bang.

"Interesting?" the woman standing in the doorway said. "Minerva, I do believe this little reunion will be more than just plain interesting."

The woman had tawny brown hair, the same color as Professor Lupin's, but without the grey pieces in it, and beautiful hazel eyes. She wasn't tall, but she wasn't short either, and had dark circles under her eyes.

Remus gaped. He would know her anywhere. "PHOEBE?" He was simply shocked.

"Yes, yes, I know you missed me," Phoebe laughed. "I am ever so glad you came to your senses, even if it took some prodding, so I decided to grace your life with my presence once more."

"PHOEBE?!" Remus yelled again, his brain had stopped functioning.

"Really, Remus, did I break you or something? This really isn't like you."

"PHOEBE!" Remus pointed at her now, still screaming.

"Oh honestly, I should have known. You never did take shock well, I do believe that was why I stopped talking to you in the first place, because you simply were shocked out of you senses! I gave you time to come around, a whole year, Remus! But you didn't. Really, Big Brother, I would have thought you would have at least a slightly better handle on it now!"

The Great Hall went completely silent.


	6. Chapter 6

Compared to the way the feast began, the rest of it was quite boring, although there was the fact that Remus would not stop gawking at Phoebe, as if she were a ghost or worse. Phoebe, of course, ignored it, until right at the end of the feast, when she turned to him and said, "A word with you in private, Big Brother?" Before flouncing off without waiting for a reply.

Remus got up and followed her out of the Great Hall quite quickly, like he was chasing something rarer than rare, like an albino thestral or a thief holding the diary of Godric Gryffindor himself.

Lily wondered to herself about where she was coming up with such things.

"Hey, Miss Moon?" she heard Harry's voice behind her, from the Hufflepuff table, and she turned around to face him and see his aura.

"Yes, Harry? You know, you can call me Lilana if you wish. Since I share the same name as your deceased mother, I understand why you are uncomfortable calling me 'Lily'," she replied to the intriguing lightning-boy, with just a hint of a sort of sand-blown-in-the-wind feel to his aura. Why hadn't she felt that before? It was lovely, but ugly. Lovely in the sense that it was rather pretty, but ugly in the sense that it didn't belong. This was picked up, like the way Ginny's aura flooded and stalled, like beaver dams.

She didn't like it. She wanted to fix it. She needed to fix it. These two, and Hermione, were her friends.

Friends. She had lost all her friends after the incident. They hadn't wanted to accommodate a blind girl. She used to try to convince herself she didn't care, they were just stupid muggles anyway, but deep down she knew that it had really hurt her.

But now she had friends again. She wanted to help them, prove, if she had too, that there was a reason to keep her around. She wanted to keep her friends.

"Er- alright, Lilana," Harry said. "I just wanted to ask you… What did you think of Professor Lupin?"

"Which one? There are two Professor Lupins, you know," Lily giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Both of them, I suppose, but I really meant Remus," Harry chuckled.

"He seems nice, I think his classes are going to be very interesting," Lily replied. "As for his sister, she seems a bit… fun, I suppose would be the word. Yes, Professor Phoebe Lupin seems fun. I think that Transfiguration will be a great class."

Harry nodded and turned back to his table to eat. Lily smiled, and cast a spell on the area of table in front of her. This spell allowed a small area of space to appear in her magical sight even though there was no magic in the food. Her mother had spent years trying to create this spell for her baby girl. She had finally made it work not one month ago.

"Phoebe, what are you doing here?" Remus asked his little sister, who had lead him to McGonagall's - no - to her office. Phoebe's office. What a strange thought.

"I was right and I came to gloat, obviously, Remus!" Phoebe spun around to face him. "Nah, I'm joking. But really, the situation was resolved, and now I shall bless your life with my presence once more!"

"What on earth are you talking about? What situation?" Remus looked utterly confused.

"The reason I stopped talking to you…" Phoebe now looked like she shared her brother's confusion.

"But I thought…" Remus was gaping at this point.

"You thought wh- Remus!" it hit Phoebe like a gallon of mercury. "You thought- You THOUGHT- YOU THOUGHT I STOPPED BECAUSE OF THAT! YOU IDIOT!" She screamed.

Remus looked quite scared of his sister at the moment. He knew what she meant and, yeah, he had thought it was the reason she had stopped speaking to him because of it. It had seemed logical, too.

"Explain to me - right now - how you thought your lycanthropy - which, I may remind you, was not an issue with your little sister at any point ever- played any part in my decision to cut communications with you. **NOW.** " She snapped, her voice dangerously quiet right up until the last word, which she screamed, right into Remus' face.

"Ph-Pheebs, I suppose I just thought-"

" **JUST THOUGHTWHAT REMUS? THAT I WOULD ABANDON MY OWN BROTHER OVER SOMETHING HE COULDN'T CONTROL?** " Phoebe screamed, tears beginning to form at the edges of her eyes.

"I THOUGHT EVERYONE ELSE HAD!" he cried out in response, like a dam had broke inside of him. "It was easy to tell, with Sirius, that he thought I was the spy. I knew it was because of the increasing number of other werewolves supporting Voldemort, and it hurt! I-I started looking for signs of distrust in the others after that, and saw them in James and Peter. They drew away from me, and I thought that Sirius would come to his senses soon enough, there was no way it was one of the four of us, in my mind. And after Halloween, I wondered if… if Sirius had ever… a-and it hurt. I couldn't move on, the betrayal was there everywhere I looked because everything reminded me of Sirius. Even you reminded me of Sirius, because of the plan we had discussed, and I couldn't handle it. So I-"

"So you started to draw away from me and go off on rants about how Sirius had tricked you and then spent hours sobbing in the corner, for over a year. I tried, time and time again, that you had known Sirius, and so had I, and I was certain there was something fishy going on, but it only ever set you off again, so I began to try less and less. And after the four-hundred-and-forty-eighth time, yes I kept count, I was too mad to care anymore, and I stormed out, yelling at you get moving and to use your brain for once!" Phoebe interjected forcefully.

"It sounded like gibberish, it was too loud for even one word to get through, and in my mind, it made sense that you had realized that you could get a lot further in life if you distanced yourself from your werewolf brother!" Remus rebutted.

Phoebe made this strange, almost strangled noise, before screeching, "Why must you infuriate me this way!"

Remus stared at her for a few tense moments before letting out a chuckle and forming a half-grin, saying, "Because I'm your brother?" while opening his arms, asking for a hug.

Phoebe nearly choked herself as she began to laugh and rushed at her brother, wrapping her arms around him in a hug that was far too tight, but Remus' arms wrapped around her just as tight in response, so it didn't really matter. The moment was nothing but perfect.

Ginny was having a great time playing with Draco's head. It was really far too simple, when he had nothing of his own in it like this. The only stuff in his head right now was regurgitated from his father's head, and Ginny regarded Lucius Malfoy as a bit of an evil joke.

Anyway, the point was that Ginny was having a grand old time in silver and green. The feast was over now, and she sadly had to stop toying with poor Draco's head now, because it was time for her to settle into her new dorm room.

It was a lovely dorm, and she only had to share it with one other girl! Daphne Greengrass was Ginny's room-mate, and a rather cold one at that. Ginny was quite disappointed that Daphne wouldn't open up more, after all, they had known each-other in the now gone future. She hadn't been as talkative as her little sister, but she was none-the-less a good friend, one that Ginny would be disappointed if she didn't make again.

Regardless, Ginny went about setting up her area, which contained a four-poster bed in green, a desk and chair, a set of drawers, and a bedside table already. She didn't have much with her, so she made a great show out of setting up the few things Kreacher had delivered while the feast was going on, including her textbooks and a small amount of clothing.

Daphne had paid her no mind, except to scathingly ask how the hat had thought Ginny would make a good Slytherin, as she clearly had no idea what stealth was.

Ginny had laughed and announced that she was off to look for the bathroom, skipping out of the dorm.

Of course, the bathroom wasn't at all hard to find, and she quickly slipped inside before calling for Kreacher.

It was time to go wand shopping.

When Ginny got back from wand shopping, it hadn't been more than an hour, but she felt utterly exhausted. Ollivander was… a bit creepy, really, but at least she had her wand back now. She hurried back to her room, hoping she hadn't been missed. Sadly, it was too much to hope for.

"Where have you been?" Daphne asked the moment that Ginny had entered the room.

"Bathroom," Ginny offered vaguely.

"For a whole hour? Please. Where were you really?" Daphne rolled her eyes.

"Well, I couldn't find it, see," Ginny replied.

"It's literally right down the hall, and I went while you were supposedly there," Daphne glowered.

"All right, sorry, but I don't know if you can be trusted to know where I was," Ginny smirked at her roommate.

"Please. Anyone with half a brain and decent observation skills could tell you snuck out to see that Hufflepuff you were talking to before the sorting. You don't need to hide it, he's a 'Puff, not a Gryffindor. Enough with the act, Zola," Daphne huffed.

"Act? What act? I'm just headed to bed," Ginny smiled and turned away, effectively ending the conversation.

Harry wasn't going to lie to himself - he didn't like his roommates. He didn't like them at all. He had awful memories of Smith and Finch-Fletchley both harassing him and accusing him of things they had no business accusing him of! He didn't want to have to room with them, but the whole year's worth of Hufflepuff boys were in the same room.

At least Wayne Hopkins wasn't so bad. Harry decided rather quickly, about two seconds, really, that he was going to take the bed furthest from Smith and Finch-Fletchley, and that bed was near Wayne Hopkins, oddly enough.

He didn't mind. Hopkins seemed nice enough.

However, there was the issue of Never-Ever-Letting-Smith-And-Finch-Fletchley-Know-Why-He-Didn't-Like-Them, but Harry was sure he could handle that later. And by later he meant at least tomorrow, because he was really tired.

After all, it wasn't even two full minutes after claiming his bed before he collapsed onto it, slumbering peacefully, or at least as peacefully as a traumatised man turned into an eleven year old child could.

"Are you sure this is what we should do?"

"We shouldn't be here! Be quiet!"

"This is exactly what we need to do. We can't let it happen again."

"What he said! So shut up!"

"Oh, you shut up, Lilu!"

"Be quiet! Bickering is a form of noise! So hush!"

"I'm not so sure that the plan we have is the best one we could come up with… Maybe we should wait a little longer and refine it?"

"Stop being such a scaredy-snake! We'll be fine."

"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up?"

"Three times."

"It's still not working!"

"Ha-ha."

"Permission to strangle him?"

"Lilu, don't strangle your brother."

"Why not?"

"Because that would cause complications."

"Darn, you're right."

"If we're going to do this, can we just go ahead and do it?"

"Right. Here goes."

And the world shifted.


End file.
